The Conservative party has consistently said it ran a clean and ethical campaign and had nothing to do with what happened in Guelph and has also said that they ‘fully cooperated ‘ with the investigation by Elections Canada. This being the case then how is it that only one person
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Democracy Under Fire: Garbage in, Garbage out?
Having publicly available information on the well-being of our local communities and national numbers on employment, business viability, population etc etc is essential not only to keep the government ‘honest’ but to make local and governmental decisions affecting these things. At first glance then it would seem that the ongoing
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Ignorance is Bliss?
Its old news that the Harper Regime eliminated the long form Census thus also eliminating reliable information on the economic and social status of various areas and communities across the country. Nor should it be news that like many other departments (with the notable exception of the PMO) their budget
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: The Fair Elections Act
The Conservative government will introduce changes to the Elections Act this week that caucus members expect to restructure the office in charge of investigating violations. “It’s the Fair Elections Act,” Poilievre said.Given the Conservatives penchant for naming bills in an Orwellian fashion we had best keep an eye on this
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Silence of the Labs
Silence of the Labs is the title given to the Fifth Estate presentation coming up on CBC this Friday which anyone concerned with the future of Canadian scientific research, indeed the very future of Canada, should make a point of watching. Whilst I do not know what their investigative reporting
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Santa is Canadian & Harper is an idiot?
We know that our Government scientists and bureaucrats are not able to make any public statements without being ‘approved’ by the Harper regimes spin machine in the PMO so we will probably never know if the study and collection of data for the Arctic claim was indeed complete two years
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Backbenchers Grow a Backbone?
Many of us have been sounding the alarm bell for some time about the amount of power and control the Prime Minister and the PMO have over both the daily working of parliament and more particularly the amount of control exercised over MPs and senators elected or appointed under the
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: This is Democracy?
As per Bill C-38 – last springs omnibus budget bill…. Members of the public who want to send a letter with comments to the NEB about a pipeline project must first apply for permission to participate – by filling out a 10-page form that includes a request for a resume
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: An exercise in futility?
I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that my efforts in these pages to shed some light upon the various attacks upon our democracy, the ever increasing centralization of power in the hands of a few, our right to details of government spending and decisions, and our right to express
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Kevin Page Reflects upon the Past 5 years.
A must read published in the Star. “ I took the job when it was agreed that a few amazing and fearless public servants would join — namely, Mostafa Askari and Sahir Khan. We signed in proverbial blood. We vowed to give Canada a true legislative budget office. Nothing less.
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: The Silence is Deafening
As our hero Kevin Page is replaced as the Parliamentary Budget Officer by the Parliamentary Librarian‘temporarily’ whilst a ‘process’ takes place to perhaps replace him with a less open and honest individual more amenable to the Harper Regimes obsession to control the message we learn that Librarian staff have been
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Government Web Sites to be Reduced or Eliminated
Recent leaked documents have confirmed that Tony ‘Gazebo’ Clements has been asked by King Harper to drastically cut the number of government websites available to Canadians. Initially, the number of sites will be slashed to six, with the ultimate goal of consolidating all online Government of Canada information into one
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: PBO Position Finally Advertised
Just a few days before Kevin Page’s contract expires the Conservative government is advertising for a mid-level executive to fill the spot meanwhile the Parliamentary Librarian will take over as interim budget officer. The lengthy job description suggests the government is clearly looking for a more compliant budget watchdog than
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Will our ‘watchkeepers’ be watching in the future?
As the frustration level builds with the ongoing lack of accountability and response to concerns about various watchdog departments and officers the number of articles condemning this ‘governments’ approach to these things increases. Its getting so hard to keep up that once again I will simply post a few clips
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: PBO contract expires soon.
The Library of Parliament who are responsible for filling the position when Mr Page’s contract expires in just two months has only now “issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking the services of an executive search firm to assist with the recruitment and selection of candidates for the PBO position.”
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Stand on Guard
At this time of year as we look back over the previous year and forward to the coming year is also a good time to look at the broader picture of where we are both personally and as a country. When compared with so many other countries around the world
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Unwrap this for Christmas!
I wish I could present you with some uplifting and exciting presents on the democracy front at this time of year but I fear it is not to be, there may be hidden amongst the lumps of coal and crushed remains of our parliamentary democracy a few items that you
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: A Western Point of View
A guest post by Jared Milne.When the federal Liberals governed Canada, Albertans were often frustrated by what they saw as pork-barrelling, a lack of transparency in government, few checks on the prime minister’s powers, and the demonizing of people …
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Municipal Councils Follow Harpers Lead
I dont often comment upon the actions of lower levels of government here but make no mistake that such proceeding are carried out in an open and accountable democratic way is just as important as it is at Provincial and Federal levels. In his recent annual report Ontario ombudsman André
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: A Week of Unaccountability
I make no effort in these pages to opinionate on things as they happen, even when limited to just attacks upon democracy it would be more than a full time job, I do try and shed some light upon such issues after the fact and highlight areas where future actions
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